


Sex Without Love

by a_pious_cruelty



Category: The Avengers (2012), Thor (2011)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Threesome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-09
Updated: 2012-07-09
Packaged: 2017-11-09 12:39:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/455546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/a_pious_cruelty/pseuds/a_pious_cruelty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>from a prompt at the kink meme: Darcy didn't mean to sleep with all the Avengers. But somehow it happens anyway.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sex Without Love

**Author's Note:**

> I previously posted this to LJ, under the same name.

Darcy decides that all of this can be blamed on Jane. After all, it started with her. And Thor. And a sort of awkward, sort of really hot threesome. 

Jane stares at her for a full minute before she says anything. She’s smiling in a weird way, like someone’s forcing her to. “So,” Jane finally says. 

“Yeah?” Darcy says. Her eyebrow arches as she waits for Jane to go on.

Jane clears her throat. “Yeah. I was just wondering.” She drums her fingers on the table. “I mean, you’re bisexual.” She says “bisexual” in a lowered voice, like she’s afraid someone will overhear them. In Jane’s lab. Where they are alone.

“You know I am,” Darcy says. She doesn’t think she likes where this is going.

Jane takes a deep breath. “Would you do a threesome with me and Thor?”

Darcy blinks at her. “Uh. What?”

“A threesome,” Jane repeats. “Me and Thor and you.” She starts gesturing, saying, “You don’t have to. And I don’t want you to think you have to because you’re my assistant. It’s totally your choice.”

“Well,” Darcy says, after a beat. “This is unexpected.”

Jane shakes her head. “I’m sorry,” she says. “This was a mistake. Just forget I said anything.”

“Hey, I’m not saying no.” Darcy pauses, turning the idea over in her mind. Thor is hot. Jane is also hot. The idea of threesome with them has some merit. “I don’t want you getting the wrong idea about bisexuals,” she says. “We’re not just sluts.”

“Oh God, no, that’s not it at all,” Jane says in a rush. “I was just. Shit.”

“Kidding,” Darcy says, smiling a little. She likes seeing Jane all flustered. “Sure. I’ll do it.”

Jane looks a little stunned. “Really?”

Darcy nods. “Why not? It sounds like a good time to me.”

Jane takes a step toward her. “That’s. I mean, that’s awesome. But I want to give you time to think about it, just in case.”

Darcy rolls her eyes. “Do you really take me for someone who carefully considers her decisions?”

Jane laughs. “Right. I’m still going to give you some time to change your mind.”

Darcy doesn’t change her mind, and a week later, Thor’s head is between her legs and Jane’s tongue is in her mouth.

Of all the talents she expected Thor to have, cunnilingus was not one of them. But damn, the man—well, god—has one talented mouth. His tongue circles around her clit, and she moans into Jane’s mouth. Jane rolls Darcy’s nipple between her fingers, and oh God yes this was a fantastic idea. Darcy reaches between Jane’s legs and works her fingers over Jane’s clit.

Jane starts kissing her neck. “Tell me what you want,” she says. Her voice is low and husky, and fuck is it hot to hear her like this, to see her so turned on. 

“I want to eat you out,” Darcy says. She raises her fingers and sucks on them, tasting Jane’s cunt. “And I want Thor to fuck me.” Thor has a beautiful, thick cock, and she needs to feel it inside her.

Jane moves back on the bed and spreads her legs wide. “Come here,” she says, and Darcy happily obliges. She’s bent down, lapping at Jane’s cunt when Thor grabs her by the hips and slides in, slowly.

Darcy pauses, savoring the feeling of being so full. Then Thor pulls back and thrusts into her, hard. She yells, “Fuck!” and momentarily forgets about eating Jane out. 

Thor stops. “Have I hurt you?” he says, all concern.

“No,” she says. “Do that again.”

It’s tricky, trying to please Jane while being fucked. Every so often she gets caught up in cursing or moaning, and Jane tugs her hair to remind her what she should be doing. Eventually they get into a rhythm, Thor thrusting in and out while Darcy tongue fucks Jane. 

Darcy’s fingers dig into Jane’s hips, and it’s got to hurt but Jane’s not complaining. She’s moaning like a dying woman, and Thor’s saying curses that Darcy doesn’t understand, and if Darcy could she’d be cursing too but she’s got more important things to do with her mouth.

Jane comes first, legs shaking and head thrown back. She’s barely got enough breath to say, “Oh God—” And then she’s still, body taut. “Yes,” she sighs, and her body relaxes. 

Darcy moves her mouth away, enjoying the dreamy, satiated look on Jane’s face. Her jaw hurts, but that doesn’t stop her from letting loose all the noises she’s been holding back on. She reaches down, rubbing her clit with desperate need. “Yes, yes, almost, fuuu—” Her back arches and she squeezes her eyes shut, orgasm singing through her body. Her cunt contracts around Thor’s cock, and she thinks that’s what pushes him over the edge, because he buries his face in her neck and bites down, groaning. 

“You bit me,” Darcy says, after they’ve both collapsed. Thor had the decency to move off her first.

Thor looks over, surprised, to see the bite mark on her shoulder. “I’m sorry,” he says. 

“No, it was hot,” she says. 

For a while, they just lie in a heap, recovering. Then Jane kneels next to Darcy and gently kisses her. “Thank you for that,” she says.

“Man, thank you,” Darcy replies. She gets up and starts to gather up her clothes. She looks over the still naked Thor and Jane. “Seriously, hot.”

There’s some more kissing and they almost get into a second round, but it’s getting late. Darcy leaves, thinking they should definitely do that again sometime.

\------

Darcy’s never figured out why Jane keeps her as an assistant. Her internship ended long ago, but Jane still lets her hang around. Darcy’s good at keeping her papers organized and listening to her babble on when she’s working out some idea, and yeah, maybe Darcy did change her major to physics because of Jane. But Darcy still doesn’t understand most of what Jane talks about. Now that she’s working for SHIELD, Jane could get a better, more competent assistant, but for some reason she keeps Darcy. It’s touching, really, and for her part Darcy tries her best to be a good assistant. 

“Oh my God,” Darcy says. “You can’t be for real.”

Jane smiles. “I am. So what do you say?”

“I say yes, duh,” Darcy says. She’s trying to remain calm, but inside she’s freaking out. “The Avengers. Oh my God.”

“Well, it’s not really the Avengers,” Jane says. “Just Dr. Banner. And Tony Stark, probably.”

“You’re going to be working at Stark Tower, headquarters of the Avengers,” Darcy says, flapping her hands. “There’s no way we’re not going to meet them.” She’s going to meet Iron Man and the Hulk—well, hopefully not the Hulk, but the guy who happens to turn into the Hulk sometimes.

She’s already planning what she’s going to say to them. She doesn’t want to make herself look like an idiot, or a star-struck fan. She’ll be as professional as possible. Does Jane have an extra lab coat? Darcy would look professional in a lab coat. She’ll wear her glasses, of course. They’ll make her look smart. She’ll shake hands with Dr. Banner, and she’ll say—

“Oh my God,” Darcy blurts. “This is so awesome.”

Dr. Banner looks embarrassed. “It’s pleasure to meet you, Darcy.” He looks down at her hand. She hasn’t let go of him.

She drops his hand. “Sorry. I’m just kind of excited.” And like anytime she’s excited, she can’t seem to shut herself up. “I’ve heard all about you. Well, not you, but…”

“The other guy.” Dr. Banner shrugs. He’s nothing like she expected. He’s thin, almost looks unhealthy. His body kind of sags, like he’s carrying around a weight. His eyes are tired and a little sad. Darcy feels the urge to hug him and only just suppresses it.

Jane steps in and starts talking about how much they’re looking forward to working with him, how helpful Darcy is, and so on. Darcy’s relieved to have someone save her from herself. She’s going to keep herself under control in the future, she promises herself.

And for a while she does. She doesn’t ask questions about the Avengers or Dr. Banner’s past, though she’s dying to know more about the Hulk. She does her work—mostly organizing Jane and Dr. Banner’s papers and getting them coffee—and tries to not make Dr. Banner uncomfortable. She does pretty well, actually.

She’s been working at Stark Tower for about two weeks—without meeting Tony Stark, and she’s a bit annoyed about that—when she breaks the streak.

Dr. Banner just looks so worn out and burdened. He’s leaning against the table, with those sad eyes half closed, and Darcy can’t take it anymore. “Darcy, would you—”

She wraps her arms around him and presses herself flush against him. He goes stiff. “Uh, what are you doing?”

“You need this,” she says.

She lets go of him when it becomes clear that he’s not going to relax. 

Dr. Banner looks awkward. Darcy suspects he’s not used to people touching him. She doesn’t apologize.

From then on, Darcy makes a point to touch Dr. Banner. She doesn’t feel him up, or even try to hug him again. It’s subtle touches, her hand brushing against his, their fingers touching when she hands him his coffee. It’s partly that that Darcy’s a touchy feely person, partly that she can sense that he’s been starved of touch for a long time.

She thinks it’s working well. Until Dr. Banner sits her down and explains, gently, that a relationship between them would be inappropriate. 

Darcy can’t help but laugh. “Doc, that’s not what’s going on here. Not that I wouldn’t be into you. It’s just that I’m not.” She pauses, tries to start over. “What I mean is, we’re cool. Besides, Jane and I—” She catches herself, figuring that it would be best to keep that information to herself. “Never mind.”

The issue is dropped after that, and Darcy tries to hold back on the touching. But now that Dr. Banner has mentioned them being together, she starts looking at him a little differently. Does this mean he’s into her? She tries to catch him watching her or checking her out. She doesn’t. The most she ever gets from him is a wan smile. 

Now that the forbidden fruit has been dangled in front of her, she can’t help but wonder. She finds herself checking him out. He’s not really her type, but he is attractive, in a professorial way. She’s always had a bit of a thing for guys in glasses. 

Darcy starts touching him again, a little less subtly now. She’s not really sure what she’s doing, but then, she’s never been one to carefully consider her actions. She just goes with it. Dr. Banner doesn’t say anything.

They have a lot of late nights. Darcy’s starting to understand what Jane and Dr. Banner are working on, so she’s a bit more useful in the lab. They’re working late again when Jane says she’s quitting for the night. Dr. Banner tells Darcy she’s free to leave, but she shakes her head.

“I’ve got coffee,” she says, holding up the mug. The thing is, she doesn’t want Dr. Banner to work too late. She’s hoping she’ll be able to coax him into bed at a reasonable hour. 

It’s quiet in the lab. Dr. Banner’s concentrating on his work, and Darcy’s watching him out of the corner of her eye. She thinks about how different this man is from the Hulk. He’s so quiet and calm. She guesses he’s practiced at it. 

She turns toward him. “Dr. Banner,” she says.

He looks up, waiting for her to go on.

“You should go to bed.” It’s not what she meant to say. She doesn’t quite know what she wanted to say.

Dr. Banner shakes his head. “Just another hour.”

Darcy slides off her stool and walks over to him. “Nope,” she says, tugging on his arm. “You need to sleep.”

He doesn’t move. 

Darcy sighs. So he’s going to be difficult. “You know, you look like crap.”

“Thank you,” Dr. Banner mutters. He’s still writing. 

Darcy hesitates, then slips her arms around his waist. She leans forward, resting her head on his shoulder. As she expected, he freezes. “You need to take care of yourself,” she says, quietly. 

He puts his hands on hers. She thinks he’s going to move her hands, but he doesn’t. 

She figures this is her chance. She turns her head and kisses his neck. She almost says, “Sure you don’t want to go to bed?” But that’s too cheesy even for her. So she doesn’t say anything, just waits for him to react. 

It’s sudden. He grabs her face and kisses her, and she makes a small sound of surprise. And it’s everything she doesn’t expect from Dr. Banner—wild, passionate, and a little violent. It’s over as suddenly as it started. Dr. Banner’s pulling away, panting an apology.

Screw that. Darcy moves her hands up to his face and leans in, seeking out that violence, that heat. He turns his face away, saying, “No, Darcy, this is—”

“Hot,” she says. Her hands move greedily down his chest, unbuttoning his shirt. He grabs her hands.

“Jesus,” he breathes, “you’re killing me here.”

“Dr. Banner—Bruce, just go with it.” She shakes his hands off and presses her palm to his crotch. 

“Don’t,” he says, and she does. She pulls down the zipper and reaches in. Dr. Banner grabs her hands again, and this time, she doesn’t resist. 

“Do you want this?” she asks.

“This isn’t right,” he says.

Darcy rolls her eyes. “Yeah, don’t care. Do you want this?”

He stares at her for a while. Then, with a soft groan, he leans forward and starts kissing her. It’s messy and so good that Darcy can’t believe they haven’t done this before. She touches him everywhere she can, sticking her hands up the back of his shirt, dragging them down to squeeze his ass. She’s trying to will him out of his clothes. It’s not working.

She pulls away just long enough to say, “Bedroom,” and then they’re stumbling into the elevator, feeling each other up like horny teenagers. Thank God he lives in Stark Tower, because there’s no way she could wait much longer. As it is they almost just go at in the elevator. 

She doesn’t notice much about the room they enter, except that it has a bed. Darcy takes her hands off Dr. Banner long enough to start shedding her clothes. Once they’re both more or less naked they fall onto the bed. Dr. Banner gets two fingers in her cunt, but it’s not enough. She wants him inside her. “Fuck,” she says, when he starts rubbing her clit with his thumb. “I mean, fuck me.”

There’s a brief pause while he locates a condom. Then he’s sliding into her, and she’s barely got time to process this before he starts fucking into her, forcing a not sexy grunt out of her. But yes, yes, this is exactly what she wanted—rough, raw, dirty. She wraps her legs around him, angling her hips so that he hits all the right spots inside her. They don’t kiss but rather gasp into each other’s mouths, tongues occasionally touching. 

Her orgasm takes her by surprise, and she tries to not dig her nails into Dr. Banner’s back as the pleasure sweeps through her body. Her legs spasm through the aftershocks. 

It doesn’t take long for Dr. Banner to come. Darcy watches his face, wanting to remember how he looks, so suddenly unburdened. He rolls off her quickly, muttering, “Shit.” He sits on the edge of the bed, shoulders hunched.

Great. Darcy looks up at the ceiling. “Are we going to do the whole, ‘we shouldn’t have done that’ thing?”

“Darcy, I’m old enough to be your father.”

“Just barely,” she says. She gets up on her hands and knees and crawls over to him. “And that’s a dumb reason not to sleep with someone who’s perfectly willing.” Darcy yawns. It’s late, and she really doesn’t want to be having this conversation. “Just shut up, okay? And let’s go to sleep.” She pulls on his arm until he finally lies down next to her. She snuggles into him, because she’s a cuddler, and rakes her fingers through his chest hair. She’s never been with a guy who had chest hair. She kind of likes it.

“It’s just sex,” she says, just before she drifts off.

\------

Darcy doesn’t act any differently afterwards. Dr. Banner, however, does his best not to end up alone with Darcy. As though they can’t possibly be alone together without having sex. Honestly, she wouldn’t mind sleeping with him again, but since he seems kind of freaked out about the whole thing, she leaves him alone. 

She’s been working at Stark Tower for a month, and still has yet to meet Tony Stark. She whines about it to Jane, who replies that Tony’s busy and that they’re not going to bother him just because Darcy wants to meet Iron Man. Darcy pouts. Jane ignores her.

Jane and Dr. Banner are meeting with SHIELD. She’s alone in the lab, reading a gossip magazine when a man’s voice says, “You don’t believe any of that stuff, do you?”

Darcy lowers the magazine slowly, thinking that her ears must be playing tricks on her. But they’re not. Tony Stark is standing not three feet away from her. She looks down at the cover of the magazine, which announces the break-up of Tony Stark and Pepper Potts. “Oh,” she says. “I guess not.”

Tony takes a step closer, looking Darcy over. “You must be the assistant. I was hoping you’d be with Jane and Bruce, so I could I could snoop around.”

Darcy tries to form a coherent thought. Be cool, she tells herself. Don’t act like an idiot. “Why? They’d tell you all about what they’re working on. I could tell you.” She wants to tell him about their research, wants the opportunity to look competent in front of Tony Stark.

“But where’s the fun in that?” He starts poking around anyway, reading the papers Darcy hasn’t gotten around to organizing. He makes small, interested noises while Darcy watches him. She’s trying to think of something to say.

“Maybe you can convince Banner to catch up to this century,” Tony says, shaking the papers. “I’ve got the most advanced computer technology around and what does he use? Paper.” 

“What makes you think he’ll listen to me?” she asks, cautiously. 

“He seems to like you,” he says. “I’m going to get some better stuff brought in here. Jane at least should appreciate it.”

Darcy stops herself from asking if Dr. Banner—Bruce, she should really think of him as Bruce—talks about her. He must have, but she doesn’t want to seem like a schoolgirl with a crush. Instead she says, “I’ll see what I can do.”

Tony spends a little more time looking around, then says, “You want to meet the other Avengers?”

“Yes,” she says, more enthusiastic than she intended. 

Tony nods. “How about tonight?”

Darcy can’t hold it back any longer. “That would be so cool,” she gushes. “Like, all of them? Captain America and Hawkeye and Black Widow?”

“Yeah,” he says, grinning. “So tonight?”

“I’m there,” she says.

She spends an hour fussing over her appearance. It’s rare that she dresses up, but this is different. This is the Avengers. She doesn’t want to look overdressed, just a little more put together than she normally does. 

It’s no use trying to tell herself not to gush, because she knows she’s going to. She just hopes she doesn’t embarrass herself too much.

The first person she notices when she arrives is Bruce, sitting off by himself in the lounge area they’re gathered in. She thinks about going over to him, even though things are still weird for them—but oh my God it’s them. Captain America, Hawkeye, Black Widow. It’s strange seeing them out of their uniforms, looking like ordinary people.

She feels suddenly shy. She doesn’t want to just run over there and start babbling on about how much she admires them. She doesn’t have to, though, because Tony comes over and puts her arm around her—holy crap, he’s touching her—and leads her over to the group of superheroes. 

“Guys, this is Jane and Bruce’s assistant, Darcy,” Tony says. “Darcy, Steve, Clint, and Natasha.”

Darcy raises her hands. “Okay, I don’t want to freak you guys out, but this is probably the best moment of my life.” Now that she’s started, she can’t seem to stop, questions pouring out of her, total verbal diarrhea. Fortunately, Clint and Steve are quite tolerant. Natasha seems a little impatient, answering Darcy’s questions with mostly monosyllabic responses. 

When she runs out of steam, she thanks them profusely for their patience with her. Clint and Steve give her indulgent smiles. 

“You know, you can come out of the lab sometimes,” Steve says. “And bring Bruce with you.”

The mention of Bruce makes her feel weird. She glances over to find the man in question, but he’s disappeared. “Yeah,” she says. “I’ll do that.”

She finds out that the other Avengers had been coming and going all the time she’d been working at Stark Tower. She just had to occasionally venture out of the lab to catch them.

Darcy waits a couple days before she takes a break from the lab to go find the other Avengers. She gets lost the first try, but ends up finding Tony’s workshop. A voice—some kind of computer program, she thinks—tells her that it will not let her in without the proper code. It’s a disappointment; Tony’s workshop looks cool.

Her second try is more successful. She finds Steve, Clint, and Tony, and actually manages to act like a normal human being around them. She makes small talk, pretends that they’re just normal people.

It becomes a routine for her. A few times she ventures out and doesn’t find them, but most days she at least manages to see Tony. Natasha shows up the least of all of them, more often than not out on some top secret spy mission. Darcy doesn’t mind too much. She likes Natasha, but finds her a little intimidating.

Eventually, they even start showing up at the lab to say hi to her. She builds a friendly rapport with all of them, but with Steve especially. He’s so polite and sweet she can hardly stand it.

It’s while she’s talking with Steve that she says, “Beam me up, Scotty.” She’s explaining that Bruce and Jane are studying interdimensional travel, and the reference seems appropriate.

Steve gives her a blank look. 

“You know, Star Trek,” she says. 

“I don’t know what that is,” he says.

“What?” Darcy’s no fan of Star Trek, but come on. Everyone knows that reference.

Steve shrugs. “I was on ice for a long time. I haven’t caught up on the references.”

“Dude,” Darcy says. “So like, you don’t know anything about the last, oh, seventy years?”

“I’ve been caught up on historical events.”

“But not the important stuff.” Darcy shakes her head in disgust. “There’s so much you’ve missed. The Beatles. The sexual revolution.” 

Steve goes a little red at that, and it’s adorable.

She starts counting off on her fingers. “Hippies. The regrettable hair and the awesome movies of the eighties. Britney Spears. MTV. Facebook. We’ve got to get you caught up.” And an idea strikes her. “I can totally do that.”

“Do what?” He looks a little distrusting. Oh ye of little faith, Darcy thinks.

“We could do movie nights,” she says. “And music, got to cover music. We’ve got to get you on Twitter and Facebook, too.”

“I don’t really have many free nights,” Steve says.

“With these two,” Darcy jerks her thumb at Jane and Bruce, “I don’t really have many either. But I am determined to make this work. What do you say? You up for some cultural education?” 

“I guess,” he says. Still distrustful.

“Great.”

It takes some work, but they arrange their first movie night. She breaks out her childhood favorite.

“The Goonies?” Steve carefully examines the DVD case. She wonders if he’s ever handled one before.

“It’s a classic,” Darcy says. “You’re going to love it.”

Darcy feels surprisingly calm about having Captain America in her tiny, temporary apartment. She didn’t think she’d be staying long in New York, but now that she’s here, she’s not sure she wants to leave. Especially if she gets to continue working with the Avengers.

The night is a success. She’s glad to discover that Steve, like Darcy, talks through the movie, a stream of reactions and questions. Everyone else hates when she does this, so it’s nice to find someone else who does it. 

Steve likes the movie, and he agrees to meet again. Next time, Darcy’s thinking of awing him with something packed with CGI. Transformers, maybe.

It becomes a regular thing for them. When Tony finds out about it, he invites them to use his private theater. And holy crap, private theater, but she kind of likes meeting at her apartment. So they keep meeting at her home. Some nights it’s movies, some nights it’s music. They go through Back to the Future, the Beatles, Transformers, and still, Steve doesn’t tire of his education. 

“Okay, this one’s a little embarrassing,” she announces one night, as she hooks up her iPod, “but I kind of have a thing about Billy Joel. Don’t tell anyone.” She hits play, and Piano Man starts playing. 

So far Steve and Darcy have pretty similar music taste. Steve listens to the song with his head tilted.

“If you don’t like it, I’ll put on something else,” she says. She fiddles with the iPod. She likes Billy Joel, yes, but listening to him always reminds her of her dad. She misses him.

“No, I like it,” Steve says. 

It’s unusual for them to listen in silence—usually Darcy sings along, off key but enthusiastic—but today they’re both quiet. She feels like Steve senses that this is different, this is special. 

When She’s Always a Woman comes on, Steve gets up from the futon and offers Darcy his hand. “May I have this dance?”

And it’s so old-fashioned, Darcy just grins stupidly. “Yeah, okay,” she says, taking his hand. 

It’s not easy dancing in her one room apartment, especially since she’s still got boxes piled around the room. She’s been meaning to unpack them, but never seems to have the time. But they manage to do pretty well, and Steve even twirls her. 

Steve keeps a decent distance between them. “You know, these days, we don’t really dance like this,” Darcy says. She steps closer to him and moves his hands lower, down to her hips. “That’s more like it.” Their bodies are touching now, and Steve looks a little helpless. They move together, slowly. 

She’s waiting for Steve to go for it, but he doesn’t. “You could kiss me, you know,” she says, quietly. 

Steve pulls back. “I’m not so sure that’s a good idea.”

Darcy lets go of him. “Oh, okay,” she says. She goes over to the iPod and shuts it off. “Sorry.”

Steve crosses the room to stand behind her. “It’s not that I don’t want to. It’s just… I don’t know where that would lead.”

“Hopefully sex,” Darcy says. She turns around to face him. 

As always, he looks surprised and a little embarrassed by her bluntness. “Well, yes, but I respect you more than that.”

Darcy laughs. “Steve, this is the age of one night stands. Sex can just be sex.” She slides her arm around his waist. “Want to make out, at least?”

Steve doesn’t resist when she tugs him over to the futon. They sit next to each other, though Darcy would like to sit in his lap. “You’re not a virgin, are you?” she asks, before they get into it.

“No,” Steve says, sounding a little offended. 

“Okay, okay, just checking.” Smiling, she puts her hand on his cheek. “You’re so cute, you know that?”

He gives her a shy smile, and then they’re both leaning in. Their lips touch, lightly. They ease into the kiss, with Darcy mostly leading the way. Their tongues slide over each other in Steve’s mouth, and Darcy makes a small sound, not quite a moan. Steve grabs her arm, fingers flexing. Jesus, that grip. Darcy thinks of him holding her down and fucking her, and mumbles a garbled, “Oh God,” in his mouth. 

No way are they stopping at making out. Darcy breaks the kiss just long enough to climb on his lap, straddling him. She tangles her fingers in his hair and leans in, returning her tongue to his mouth. Steve suddenly grabs her ass, and Darcy stops holding back. She rolls her hips, which gets a groan from Steve. He gets his hands up under her t-shirt, over her bra. 

Darcy leans back and pulls her t-shirt off, quickly undoing her bra and throwing it off to the side. Steve pulls her back down for a kiss. His hands cup her breasts. Darcy rolls her hips again, and this time, Steve grabs her hips so that he can grind up against her. “Where’s the bed?” Steve asks.

“We’re on it,” she says. “Futon.”

They separate long enough for Darcy to pull the futon out into a bed. She tugs on his shirt. “Off,” she says. She knows he’s ripped, and she wants to see it.

He takes off his shirt.

“Oh yes,” Darcy says, fingering his muscles. “You’re like some kind of Greek god.” Her fingers trail down to the waistband of his pants. She thinks about unbuttoning them and going down on him, but before she can, he lifts her up. She yelps and gets her legs around his waist. He’s holding her up like it’s nothing, and it’s so hot. He lays her down on the bed, kissing a path down her neck, between her breasts, down to the top of her jeans. 

Is he going to…? Steve unbuttons her jeans and pulls them off, along with her underwear. Darcy gets her answer when he leans in and licks her slit. “Oh,” she gasps. Wait, did they even have cunnilingus in the 1940s? How is this happening? She does her best to communicate this question.

Steve laughs. “Yes, Darcy, we did this back in the forties too.” He licks her cunt slowly, avoiding her clit completely.

“Such a fucking tease,” she pants. 

There’s mischief in Steve’s eyes, and he keeps the teasing up for what feels like forever. Then, his lips close around her clit and he sucks, and Darcy shouts loud enough that her neighbor pounds on the wall. She ignores them. 

Licking and sucking and goddamn he’s good at this. She’s trying to tell him that, but all that comes out of her mouth are moans and curses. 

She doesn’t intend to let him continue until she comes, but she doesn’t quite have the will to make him to stop. So he keeps going until she cries out, “Oh fuck,” and comes, writhing with pleasure. 

“Okay,” she says, once she’s recovered. “Pants off, now.” She gets up to get a condom. When she turns around, she’s pleased to see he’s obeyed her order.

She can’t help but suck the tip of his cock a little before she rolls the condom onto it. “Don’t be gentle,” she says, lying back. 

“I’m not sure—”

“Hold me down and fuck me,” she says. 

“I don’t want to hurt you,” Steve says. 

She sits up on her elbows and glares at him. “Steve. Hold me down and fuck me. Now.”

He takes her hands, reluctantly, and pins them above her head. He holds them in place with one hand and braces with the other. 

She sighs, and then hisses, “Yes,” when he enters her. 

Sex on a futon is not ideal. He starts thrusting into her, and she bangs her head on the arm of the futon. “Oh, ow, no, don’t stop.” There isn’t nearly enough room. But once they get into a rhythm, it’s wonderful. She knows he’s still holding back a little, but it’s still pretty rough and that’s what she likes. 

He comes just before she does. Her second orgasm makes her involuntarily shut her eyes—a shame, because she wanted to watch Steve come. 

When she opens her eyes, Steve is lying next to her, sweaty and out of breath. It’s a nice sight. “Want to sleep over?” she asks.

“Yeah,” he says, and she scoots closer to him, even though they’re both sweaty and gross. She’ll never turn down a chance to cuddle. 

The next morning, he’s gone. Darcy’s a little hurt, but she tries to shrug it off. He has stuff to do. He’s a superhero, after all.

She just hopes this doesn’t mean things will be awkward between them. She and Bruce are still weird with each other. She doesn’t want to have lost a friend because of a casual sexual encounter. 

She makes herself some coffee, then sits by the window and looks out on the ugly view she has of an alley way. Last night was nice. And no, she’s not looking for some kind of long term thing with Steve. He’s a great guy, of course, but not the person she wants to be with.

She gets a weird feeling when she thinks about that, who she wants to be with. There’s no one in particular she wants to be with.

Except.

She brushes the thought off and finishes her coffee. That’s enough thinking. 

\------

When Tony invites Darcy to have a look at his private workshop—apparently there are cameras in that area, and he’s noticed her going there just to look in—she of course says yes. As she expected, she doesn’t really understand the functions of half the equipment he has, but it’s fascinating nonetheless.

“So,” Tony says, “you and Steve.”

“Oh God,” she groans. “He told you.” As she’d feared, Steve had been acting uncomfortable around her. She was hoping it would pass soon, though learning that he told Tony about them does make her a little angry with him.

Tony looks slightly amused. “Actually, he didn’t say anything. You slept with him?”

Damn her inability to assess the situation before speaking. “I don’t see how that’s your business.”

“Ah, but it is,” Tony says. He leans against the table, arms crossed. “This is the second Avenger you’ve slept with.”

“That’s not true,” she protests, because it’s not. She’s slept with three Avengers. “Wait. Who else do you think I’ve slept with?”

“Bruce, of course,” Tony says. 

Well, she can’t exactly deny that. And she’s a terrible liar, so she doesn’t try. “How did you know?” she says instead.

“Guy goes from talking about you with that little smile, to wincing anytime you’re mentioned,” Tony says, shrugging. “Knowing him, something went right—you were into him—but he can’t possibly just be happy about it. He’s got to pull the tortured soul thing.”

“Exactly! I mean, it was good,” Darcy says. “But no, he’s got to be like, oh, I’m too old for you. Such bullshit, and he knows it.” She stops herself before she can wind herself up for a rant. “This still isn’t your business.”

“But it is,” Tony insists. “Like I said, you’re gone after two Avengers.”

“I didn’t go after them,” Darcy says. “It just happened.”

Tony ignores her. “I can only conclude that you might be looking to complete the set.”

For a moment, she’s confused. “Oh,” she says, when she realizes. “No. Jesus. I’m not on some kind of mission to sleep with all the Avengers.”

“I should warn you, I don’t jump into bed with just anyone,” Tony says, and Darcy snorts a laugh.

“Yeah, right,” she says. “Aren’t you with Pepper, anyway?”

“Ah, Pepper,” Tony says, and briefly looks away. “No. The magazines got it right for once.”

“Oh,” Darcy says. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” he saying, flashing an empty smile. “She deserves a normal life.”

It’s the first time she’s seen him express any genuine emotion, shielded as it is. Her first instinct is to give him some physical contact, but she’s seen where that can lead. “Well, don’t worry,” she says. “Your virtue is safe with me.”

“Given your record, you’ll forgive me if I don’t believe you,” Tony replies.

“Fascinating as this discussion of my sex life it, I have other things to do,” Darcy says. “Thanks for the tour.” She turns to go, then stops. “I’d appreciate it you’d keep this conversation to yourself.”

“Will do,” Tony says, cheerfully.

Darcy just hopes that for once, Tony will be able to show some discretion.

In the next few days, she’s vigilant for any sign that Tony’s told the other Avengers about her apparent sexual quest. As far as she can tell, he hasn’t told anyone. He does, however, take every opportunity to drop a sly remark. Especially in front of Bruce.

Tony’s taken an interest in their research, and he’s hanging out in the lab a lot more. Every day is a struggle for Darcy to keep her cool, while Tony does everything but announce what he knows about her sex life. 

If Bruce or Jane notices, they’re polite enough to not say anything. Darcy does her best to ignore him, figuring that if she doesn’t engage with him, he’ll get bored and give up. But he doesn’t.

So one evening, when Tony leaves the lab to do whatever he does after tormenting Darcy all day, she follows him out. “Hey,” she says.

He stops and turns back toward her. “Yes?”

Darcy tries to say something, but anger gets the better of her. So she marches over to him and punches him in the arm. 

Tony doesn’t flinch. He actually grins. “Problem, Darcy?” He keeps moving. Darcy follows him into the elevator. 

“I hate you,” she says. “Yes, I enjoy sex. Yes, I slept two Avengers. And you know what? It was good. I don’t regret it. So why do you have to be such an ass about it?”

He looks genuinely surprised. “I didn’t know it bothered you so much.”

“Seriously?” She wants to punch his arm again, but she doesn’t. “Yeah it bothers me. I don’t care if Jane knows, but Bruce—” But then, why does she care if Bruce knows she slept with Steve? “Just keep it to yourself,” she says.

“Ah,” Tony says, and nods knowingly. The elevator doors open, and Darcy sees they’re at Tony’s workshop. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” They enter the workshop together, because Darcy’s not about to drop this.

“Oh, nothing. Now, I’ve got work to do, so—”

Darcy jumps in front of him and grabs him, roughly, by his wrists. “Don’t ‘oh, nothing’ me. What did you mean by that?”

“You’ve got a thing for the good doctor,” Tony says. “Obviously.”

“I do not,” she says. She’s still holding on to his wrists. He hasn’t bothered to shake her off.

“Yeah, you do,” he says. 

“It was just sex,” Darcy says. 

“Maybe with Steve, but Bruce is different,” Tony says. “And don’t worry, Bruce still has a thing for you.”

“I—he does?” Darcy shakes her head. “This is stupid.” She needs to prove him wrong about this. And since Darcy doesn’t think very clearly when she’s angry, she does the first thing that comes into her head to prove him wrong. 

She drops to her knees in front of him and lets go of his hands. 

Tony looks down at her. “Uh. What are you doing down there?”

“It’s just sex,” she says. “It doesn’t mean anything.” She slides her hands up his legs and then looks up, watching his Adam’s apple bob as he swallows. “I wonder. Has anyone ever seduced you? Or is it always the other way around?” She cups her hand over his crotch. 

He clears his throat. “You sure you want this?”

And though she didn’t come into the workshop with this in mind, the idea of blowing Tony is becoming more appealing. It’d give her a chance to torment him a little, teach him a lesson. “Yes,” she says and gives his dick a squeeze.

Before he can say anything—and God, she just knows he’s not going to shut up even when she’s got his cock in her mouth—she opens his jeans and pulls them down, along with his boxers. His dick is starting to perk up. She leans forward and lets her breath ghost over it, watching as he starts to harden further, even without her touch. 

Sucking cock isn’t Darcy’s favorite activity. When it comes to oral, she much prefers doing women. No gagging, no messy, unpleasant come to deal with. But she loves completely undoing a man, leaving him begging for more. So she kisses the tip of Tony’s cock, parting her lips just enough to let her tongue swipe over the head. Tony makes a small sound, but it’s not nearly enough for her. She parts her lips a little more, sucking gently. 

Then she moves her mouth away, to lick the underside of his cock from base to head. Slowly, very slowly. Again she licks the tip, then returns to the base. Tony’s clean shaven down there, and his balls are too much of a temptation. She sucks one into her mouth, her tongue massaging the smooth, soft skin. She pays no attention to his cock.

She trades one ball for the other, and Tony sort of laughs, sort of groans.

“I know what you’re doing,” he says, his voice strained. “You’re punishing me.”

Darcy says nothing, too busy lavishing attention on his balls. Finally, she lets them slide out of her mouth. “You have no one but yourself to blame.” She puts her mouth back on the head of his cock, swirling her tongue over it. She begins to suck it into her mouth. Tony’s got his hand in her hair, and he’s making sounds like he’s trying to talk, but can’t form the words.

She knows it must be agonizing for him to hold still while she slowly takes him into her mouth. She’s got to give him props, he’s doing well. 

“Okay,” he gasps. “Okay. I’m sorry for all the comments.”

Darcy hums in her throat, and Tony loses control for a moment, thrusting into her mouth. Darcy gags a little and pulls back. 

“Sorry, sorry.”

Darcy’s already sucking down his cock again. She picks up the pace, satisfied with his apology. She can’t quite fit the whole thing in her mouth, so she works her fist over the part she can’t reach. Tony’s making some lovely sounds, babbling about her mouth. Yes, this is exactly what she wanted. She bobs her head, moving her mouth quickly up and down his cock, until Tony’s making these interesting “uhn” noises. 

It isn’t long before he starts saying, “Fuck, uhh, Darcy. I’m—” She figures he means he’s going to come, and she hums in response, letting him know it’s okay to come in her mouth. He’s earned it. 

He spurts hot and bitter over her tongue—and oh, God, she’d forgotten how gross come is. She pulls away and spits it out into her hand. 

Tony’s leaning against the table, breathing heavily, but he manages to toss her a rag. She wipes off her hand and then stands, wondering what’s going to happen next. Should she just leave? Going down on Tony has left her hot and bothered, but she’s not sure he’s the type to return the favor. 

She starts to go, but Tony grabs her arm. “Hold on,” he says, his mouth close to her ear. “We’re not done yet.” Then he starts kissing her neck, and Darcy could get into this. 

Darcy turns around and presses her lips to his. She’s pleased when his mouth opens under hers. Her last boyfriend wouldn’t let her kiss him after she sucked him off. She loves that he can probably taste himself in her mouth. 

He backs her up against the table, his hands roaming over her body. He undoes her jeans and works his hand into her panties, his rough fingers rubbing her clit. He moves his mouth to her neck and starts sucking on her skin, and oh, she can’t wait until he’s doing that to her clit.

She’s so distracted by his mouth and his fingers that it takes her a while to realize what he’s doing. “Are you giving me a hickey?” No one’s given Darcy a hickey since high school. She pulls away, but she thinks the damage has already been done. 

Tony grins and then gets down on his knees, tugging Darcy’s jeans and underwear to her ankles.

“You can’t just—” She interrupts herself with a soft, “Oh,” when Tony’s tongue flicks over her clit. “Uh. You can’t—oh yeah, right there, fuck.” He’s managed to find her g-spot on the first try. He curls his fingers inside her, rubbing that spot. Darcy grips the edge of the table, saying, “Oh God, oh shit,” as Tony sucks her clit and fingers her. It’s almost too much. She shuts her eyes and tries to get enough breath to moan. 

She can’t, so she just pants out, “Yeah, yeah, like that.” Tony’s good at this, really good, and for a moment Darcy thinks of Steve and Thor and compares how they went down on her. All good, in different ways, but she has to give it to Tony. It’s mostly the way he’s working his fingers in her. Obviously the man is well aware of the function of the g-spot. 

She can feel her orgasm coming, and she tilts her head back, her mouth dropping open in a silent scream as pleasure erupts in her. 

When she comes down, she opens her eyes and looks down at Tony. He winks at her.

“Well, that was an interesting turn of events,” he says. “Worked out well, I think.”

Darcy pulls up her jeans. “I swear, if you tell anyone about this—”

He puts his hands up in mock surrender. “Not a word. I promise.”

Darcy tries to hide the hickey with make-up, but she still has a feeling that Bruce notices it the next day. 

\----

Darcy’s surprised to see Natasha enter the lab, but she greets her with a friendly smile. Darcy expects a curt nod from her, but instead of going over to Bruce like Darcy expects, Natasha stops in front of her.

“I’ve been thinking,” she says. “You don’t have any training in combat.”

“Uh. I took a self defense class in college,” Darcy says. “And I’m good with a taser.” 

Natasha smiles. “So I’ve heard. But you really should have some training.”

“I haven’t had to fight these two off lately,” Darcy says, indicating Jane and Bruce. “Mostly they’re well behaved.”

“You’re involved in important research,” Natasha replies. “You may find yourself in a situation where you’ll have to fight off an attacker. I can help you.”

“What about Jane? She hasn’t had any training.” Darcy can’t help but find this a little odd. She doesn’t know Natasha well, but this offer seems uncharacteristic. Why would she want to help Darcy, when she’s mostly just ignored her?

“Actually, SHIELD had me work with Natasha,” Jane says. “She taught me some useful stuff.”

“So what do you say?” Natasha asks.

Darcy doesn’t have any reason to say no, so she agrees to meet with Natasha later that day.

She’s not sure what to expect when she shows up in the sparring room—she didn’t know they even had such a room. Natasha’s waiting for her. 

“So, how do we start this?” Darcy asks. She’s starting to feel like maybe she shouldn’t have accepted this offer, since she suspects Natasha’s going to kick her ass. 

“First, relax,” Natasha says, putting her hand on Darcy’s arm. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

Darcy nods. “Yeah, okay.” 

And really, it’s not too different from her self-defense class. Natasha’s surprisingly gentle, and she smiles more than Darcy’s ever seen her smile. It’s strange to see this new side of her. But it’s also nice. 

Darcy’s got to admit, there’s something quite pleasant about being close to Natasha, having her touch her to guide her movements. Of course Darcy’s noticed how beautiful Natasha is, but she’s been too afraid of her to flirt with her. She hasn’t quite worked up the nerve for flirting with her now, but she does lean, oh so subtly, into Natasha’s touches. 

Darcy’s shocked when she manages to take down Natasha. “Oh my God,” she says, reaching out her hand to help her up. “I’m so sorry.”

Natasha shakes her head. “No, no, it’s good,” she says. “That’s what we want. I think that’s enough for today. We can work some more in a few days.”

“You know, you don’t have to do this,” Darcy says, even though she liked spending time with Natasha. 

Natasha shrugs. “I don’t do anything I don’t want to.”

And so, a few days later, Natasha comes to collect her at the lab. Darcy’s not really a quick learner, being a generally uncoordinated person, but Natasha shows a lot of patience with her. 

“How’d you get so good at this?” Darcy asks, a little out of breath. 

“Natural talent, I guess,” Natasha says. She’s positioning Darcy’s body for the next move, and is it just her imagination, or do her hands linger on Darcy’s hips? “All right, I’m going to come at you, and you try to take me down.” 

Darcy does try, but somehow Natasha gets a hold of her and they both tumble to the ground. Natasha’s on top of her, and Darcy can’t help but laugh. “Sorry, sorry,” she says. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

Natasha smiles down at her. “No.” And then she reaches down to touch Darcy’s face. Darcy’s not laughing anymore.

“Oh,” Darcy says, and suddenly they’re kissing. Natasha licks into Darcy’s mouth. They kiss slowly, like they’ve got all the time in the world to explore each other’s mouths. 

Then Natasha pulls back and gets up. Darcy lies on the floor, not sure why the kissing ended. 

Natasha hauls her to her feet. “So,” she says, “we’ll pick up where we left off next time.”

Over the next few days, Darcy thinks about what happened. Natasha kissed her. It was good. So why did she stop? Are they going to pretend nothing happened? Are things going to get even more complicated than they already are?

Things have gotten a little easier with Steve, though they never went back to their cultural reference education. Every time she’s with Tony it looks like it physically pains him not to crack some smart remark. And Bruce. Well. Bruce still kind of winces every time she touches him. Thor and Jane are the only ones who haven’t been acting different around her. They’ve even hinted at another threesome, but right now, Darcy doesn’t need that complication in her life.

She doesn’t know what to expect or how to act the next time Natasha shows up at the lab. “Ready?” Natasha says. There’s something in her eyes that makes Darcy’s heart speed up.

“Yeah.”

But instead of going to the sparring room, Natasha leads her to the lounge are where Darcy first met the Avengers. “Not exactly ideal,” Natasha says, “but I think it’ll be okay.”

“For sparring?” 

Natasha smiles. “Not really what I had in mind.” She puts her hands on Darcy’s waist. “Unless that’s what you want to do?”

“No,” Darcy hurriedly says. 

“Good.” Natasha leans in and their lips touch. It’s like the last time, slow and intimate. They end up on the couch, limbs tangled together. 

It doesn’t occur to her until their kissing is starting to heat up that anyone could walk in on them. Darcy pulls back. “I really like where this is going, but this isn’t exactly the most private space.”

“Cap’s doing some publicity thing, Clint’s on a mission,” Natasha says. 

“And Tony?”

“He’s working on his next Stark building, on site.”

They start kissing again, and Natasha slides her hands up the back of Darcy’s t-shirt to unhook her bra. 

“Eager?” Darcy says and takes off her shirt and bra.

Natasha makes a low, pleased sound, then pushes Darcy onto her back. She lowers her mouth to Darcy’s left nipple, her tongue darting out to touch the hardening flesh. Her mouth latches on to her nipple, and Darcy sucks in a breath. Her breasts are very sensitive, and Natasha’s licking and sucking has got her so turned on she’s trying to find a way to hump Natasha’s leg. She makes several thrusting motions toward it, but can’t get contact.

Natasha notices and chuckles. “Like that?” she says.

“Yes,” she sighs, “but you are way overdressed.” 

Natasha sits back and sheds her shirt and bra. Darcy reaches up and thumbs at Natasha’s nipples until they’re hard. “You’re beautiful,” she says.

“So are you,” Natasha says in a low voice. She lowers her body onto Darcy’s, and for a long time they just kiss, tongues sliding over each other. Darcy loves the feeling of Natasha’s breasts pressing against hers. Darcy likes men, yes, but there’s something wonderful about the female form, something that the male form can’t quite match. 

Soon, they’re lazily grinding against each other. Natasha works her leg between Darcy’s legs, but it’s not enough. With a lot of cursing on Darcy’s part, they get their pants and underwear off. She tries to get up, wanting to get her head between Natasha’s legs, but Natasha pins her down. 

“No,” she says. “Just like this.” She puts her leg back between Darcy’s legs and rolls her hips.

And Darcy was looking forward to tasting that lovely cunt, but this is good too. They kiss and grind together, shuddering and gasping. 

Natasha says something in Russian and suddenly goes still. Darcy keeps thrusting against her leg, and soon she’s coming too, biting her lip as she rides out the pleasure.

They lie together, holding each other. It’s not exactly comfortable, but it feels so good Darcy’s willing to sacrifice comfort.

Natasha stirs first, disentangling her limbs from Darcy’s. She presses a kiss to Darcy’s forehead. “I have to go,” she says. “But I’d stay if I could.”

“I understand,” Darcy says. She watches Natasha dress, not bothering to get dressed herself. After Natasha leaves, she lies for a moment and thinks about what happened.

Yeah, things have just gotten more complicated.

\----  
Darcy’s been avoiding going out of the lab, to the point where Jane has commented on it. 

“I think Clint’s back from his mission,” Jane says. “You should go say hi to him.”

Clint. The one Avenger she hasn’t slept with. One friendship she hasn’t managed to screw up. “Yeah,” she says. “I’ll do that.”

She figures he’ll be in the lounge, so she heads there. The doors are closed, and she hears voices. She pauses, remembering what Natasha and she got up to in that room. 

“Yeah, yeah, you win,” Clint says. “But you cheated. And while I was on a mission. That’s low, Romanov.”

“Hey, she slept with me and not you,” Natasha says. “That’s all that was specified in the bet.”

Darcy’s head is swimming. She should go. She should turn around and leave right now. Instead, she opens the door. 

Natasha’s smiling, but her smile fades as soon as she sees Darcy. “Darcy,” she says.

“You were—you were betting on me?” Darcy can hardly take a breath. She wants to cry but won’t let herself. “On who I’d sleep with?”

Natasha opens her mouth, closes it again. She takes a step forward, toward Darcy. 

And fuck, now Darcy’s crying, and she’s not going to let Natasha see her like this. She turns and walks out of the room. It’s not as though they can say anything to make this better. 

Natasha follows her, calling, “Wait, Darcy!”

Darcy doesn’t, but of course Natasha catches up to her and grabs her arm.

Darcy wrenches her arm out of Natasha’s grip, whirling around to face her. There’s a lot she wants to say right now, but she’s so upset she can’t really do anything but blink out tears and swallow painfully. 

“Darcy, I am so sorry,” Natasha says. “I never meant for you to—”

“Find out, yeah, whatever,” Darcy says in a burst of anger. “How much was I worth, anyway? How much did you fuck me for?”

Natasha reaches out to wipe away Darcy’s tears, but Darcy slaps her hand away. 

“Don’t touch me!” she says, more shrill than she intends. Darcy’s never been used like this. She thinks of the tender way Natasha kissed her forehead, just before she left. God, how could she have been so stupid?

“I swear to you, I wanted to be with you,” Natasha says. She smiles weakly. “I told you, I never do anything I don’t want to.”

“But why did you bet on it?” And then it all hits Darcy. She closes her eyes for a moment. “Fuck. You knew.” She takes in a shaky breath and opens her eyes. “Did Tony tell you?”

“No,” Natasha says, gently. “With Steve, it was kind of obvious. Tony—he didn’t say anything, but he always had this look when you were mentioned, like he wanted to say something.”

“And the others?” Darcy says, with a sniff.

“What others?” 

“You don’t know? Well it turns out I’m the Avengers’ personal whore,” Darcy says. “You’re sloppy fifths.”

“Don’t say that,” Natasha says. 

And she looks so open, so truly repentant that Darcy wants to let Natasha hold her and tell her it’s all right. But she doesn’t. She wipes off her cheeks, knowing that she must look awful. She’s an ugly crier. 

“You could have just asked,” she says, and God, she doesn’t want to keep crying. She looks up, trying to hold back the fresh wave of tears. 

“Darcy, I’m sorry.”

Darcy shakes her head and walks away. Natasha doesn’t follow her this time.

She doesn’t want to go back to the lab, doesn’t want Bruce and Jane to see her like this. She wants to go home, but her bag’s in the lab, and her keys are in her bag. 

So she goes into the lab, trying to escape notice.

Of course Jane sees right away that she’s been crying. “Oh my God, Darcy, what happened?” Jane asks, walking quickly over to her. 

Darcy wants to say that nothing’s wrong, but she knows Jane will just hound her for the truth. “I can’t seem to not fuck up my life,” she says. She grabs her bag, intending to leave, but Jane steps in her way. 

“Just tell me what happened,” she says, putting her hands on Darcy’s arms. 

Darcy’s aware that Bruce is watching them, but she can’t seem to stop what comes flooding out of her mouth. “For starters, I’m an enormous slut,” Darcy says. She glances back at Bruce. “I slept with Bruce.” She turns back to Jane. “I’ve slept with you. And Thor, Tony, Steve, and now Natasha. I’m the goddamn Avengers bicycle. Everyone gets a ride.”

Jane lowers her hands. “Oh. That’s, well, that’s nothing to feel bad about.”

Darcy laughs. “No, it should go on my resume. Darcy Lewis: ambitious slut.”

“You shouldn’t call yourself that,” Bruce says.

Darcy looks back at him. “Doc, it’s just the truth. You know, Natasha and Clint were betting on who I’d sleep with next.” She sighs. “Yeah, I’m just going to go home now.”

Jane nods. “Of course.” She gives her a quick hug, and then Darcy leaves.

She spends the rest of the day in bed, feeling sorry for herself. She really thought she had something real with Natasha. It hurts, and Darcy feels like fool for buying into Natasha’s act. 

And Clint, was he planning to try the same thing with her? Seduce her before Natasha got to her? They’re not best friends, no, but Darcy did think of him as a friend. How could he do this to her?

God, what a mess. She doesn’t know what she’s going to do. What do you do when you’ve slept with pretty much all of your coworkers?

Darcy curls up with her knees pressed to her chest. She’s got to talk this out with someone. But who can she talk to who won’t judge her for sleeping around?

“You mean to tell me you had sex with Natasha in this very building?” Tony’s practically drooling.

Darcy pulls a face. “Could you, like, focus? I have a problem.”

“What problem? You should be proud of yourself,” Tony says. “You bagged the whole team, well done.”

“Not Clint,” Darcy says. “And of course I have a problem.”

Tony nods. “You still have to sleep with Clint.” 

“I am not going to sleep with Clint.” Darcy’s starting to regret coming to talk with Tony, but she honestly couldn’t think of anyone else. 

“Okay, so you slept with most of the Avengers,” Tony says. “So what?”

“So just about everyone knows it,” Darcy says. “They’ll all think I’m a big slut.”

Tony shrugs. “And?”

Darcy tries to think of a retort, but can’t.

“Look, everyone on this team has a past,” Tony says. “None of us are really in the position to judge someone just for sleeping around. And if they do, it’s not like it affects you.”

“Easy for you to say,” Darcy says. “You can sleep around all you want and no one cares. Because you’re a man.”

“Darcy, what do you want?” Tony says. “Right now. What do you want to happen?”

“I want to get on with my life,” Darcy says. She wants to forget about this.

“Why don’t you take some time? You know, take a break from the Avengers,” Tony says.

And it’s not a bad idea. “Maybe I’ll do that.”

She lets Jane know that she’s going to be taking a break for a little while. Jane says she understands and wishes Darcy good luck. 

Darcy spends a lot of time walking around the city, thinking about her life. She likes the work she’s doing, and she doesn’t want to leave that. But some things need to change. She can’t erase her sexual history, and to be honest, she doesn’t really want to. The only person she regrets being with is Natasha, and that’s only because Natasha was with her for the wrong reasons. 

The thing is, she loves each of them in her own way. Steve, Jane, Thor, Bruce, and yes, even Tony and Natasha. She couldn’t be with someone she didn’t love in some way. She’s happy to have shared herself with these people.

The more she thinks about it, the better she feels. She’s not ashamed of what she’s done. Yes, it’s made her life more complicated, but nothing’s been wrecked. She can rebuild these relationships—she hopes.

She’s walking home one evening when she becomes aware that someone’s following her. Quickly, she reviews what Natasha taught her and prepares herself for an attack.

“Darcy,” a familiar voice calls.

Darcy turns around. “Clint,” she says, a little stiffly.

Clint comes up to her. Darcy’s not exactly thrilled to see him, since she’s not quite over what he and Natasha did to her. “Haven’t seen you around Stark Tower,” he says.

“I’m taking some personal time,” she says. “How long have you been following me?”

“Honestly? Pretty much since you stopped coming in,” he admits. 

“I didn’t see you,” she says.

“Kind of the point.”

For a moment, neither of them speaks. 

“I’m sorry,” he finally says. “Darcy, I mean it. Natasha and I—we get competitive. And she really did like you, before that stupid bet.”

“Doesn’t really make me feel better,” Darcy replies. She looks away. “And you? Were you just in it to screw me?”

“I never meant to hurt you,” he says. It’s not much of an answer.

“Yeah, whatever,” Darcy says. 

“I want to make this right.”

Darcy smiles humorlessly. “Not sure that’s possible.” She pauses, thinking. “Take me on a date.”

Clint looks surprised. “A date?”

“Yes,” Darcy says. “A proper date, where you treat me like a lady. No one else has lately.”

“All right,” Clint says. “I can do that. Tomorrow, at seven?”

Darcy nods. “I’ll see you then.”

So its turns out Clint has car. A really nice car.

“You have a car,” Darcy says, as Clint opens the door for her. “Nobody in New York has a car.” Darcy hasn’t driven a car in a long time; she left hers behind when she moved.

“It’s a company car,” he says. 

Darcy feels kind of underdressed just getting to the car, and when they get to the restaurant, she definitely feels underdressed.

“Okay, I know you’re trying to make this up to me,” Darcy says, “but you didn’t have to go all out.”

“Just enjoy it, Darcy,” Clint says, with a smile. 

He pulls her chair out for her when they get to their table. It’s kind of ridiculous, kind of sweet. She did ask to be treated like a lady, but she wasn’t really expecting all this. 

“If you’re looking to impress me,” Darcy says, “you’re succeeding.”

“Good,” Clint says. “Hopefully it’ll distract you from what an asshole I was.”

And though Darcy’s still hurt, she feels more inclined to forgive him. “Did Natasha tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

Darcy doesn’t know why she’s bringing this up. It’s just that she doesn’t care so much anymore. “You’re the only Avenger to hold out against my feminine wiles,” she says. “I’ve gotten everyone but you.”

Clint raises an eyebrow. “I guess you’re going to have to try harder to get me.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

The wine is way too expensive. Everything on the menu is way too expensive. Also it’s in French, and Darcy murders the title of what she orders trying to pronounce it. 

And it’s all good, of course. But it’s not Darcy’s style, so at the end of the meal, she says, “Let’s get out of here. I know where we can get some fried twinkies.”

Clint laughs. “Fried twinkies, really?”

The twinkies are awesome, even Clint has to admit it. They walk along the streets, not really headed anywhere in particular. They talk about everything and nothing. Darcy tells him about meeting Thor, because he’s never heard that story.

“You hit him with a car?”

“Totally not my fault,” she says. “Although I did taser him.”

“What? Why?”

Darcy shrugs. “He was freaking me out. But I’m glad the whole thing happened. If Thor hadn’t fallen from the sky, I’d be working in some boring governor’s office. Instead I get to work with you guys.”

“I’m glad too,” Clint says. They stop. Clint’s got this look in his eye, and Darcy has a feeling she knows what’s coming.

“Wait,” Darcy says, holding up her hands. “Let’s just take this slow. I mean, I like you, but I have got to learn to go slow.”

“I get it,” Clint says. “I’ll take you home. Won’t even ask to be invited up to your apartment.”

Once they’re at her apartment building, she starts to regret her decision to take it slow. Clint says goodnight, and he’s just about to leave when Darcy grabs him and kisses him. “Sorry,” she says, “couldn’t help myself.”

Clint grins. “Don’t be sorry.” He pauses, shifting from one foot to the other. “So, you want to do this again some time?”

“Yeah,” she says, feeling like she’s fourteen again, coming home after her first real date. “But I’m picking the activity.”

A few days later, they’re at Stark Tower. 

“I don’t see how you consider this a date,” Clint says.

“We can go back to my place after and break open my box of wine,” she says. “But I want to see what I can do.”

“After two lessons with Natasha?” 

“Hey, I took her down one time,” Darcy says. “Besides, from my experience, sparring leads to interesting things.” She wiggles her eyebrows suggestively.

“All right. I’ll try not to hurt you,” Clint says.

“Bring it.”

He comes at her, and Darcy tries to do that move Natasha showed her, but Clint just grabs her and throws her over his shoulder. Oh, strong. She likes strong men. “Well, you’ve got me now,” she says, in as sexy a voice she can manage considering the position she’s in. “What are you going to do with me?”

He puts her down, gently. “I’m going to teach you some proper moves,” he says, “because that was just pathetic.”

Not exactly the answer she was looking for, but the teaching involves enough lingering touches that Darcy can forgive him. More than once, she ends up flat on her back with Clint standing over her, looking smug.

“I’m going to show you,” she says. “Once day I’ll be able to kick your ass.”

“Yeah, I’ll be waiting.” He helps her up for the fifth time. “So,” he says, casually, “want to go back to your place?”

Darcy should at least try to be coy, but she just smiles and leads the way out of the sparring room. 

Clint laughs when she brings out the box of wine. “I thought you were kidding about that,” he said. 

“Don’t knock it ‘til you try it,” she says, pouring the wine into a plastic cup because she’s out of clean dishes. 

“Well, this does take me back to my college days.” 

Darcy fiddles with her iPod, trying to find just the right song. Finally she finds it and hits play.

“Marvin Gaye,” Clint says, deadpan.

Darcy blinks innocently. “I happen to like him.” She settles next to Clint and places her hand on his knee.

Clint smiles faintly. “Yeah, I can see why no one else has been able to resist you.”

“My feminine wiles are impressive,” Darcy agrees. She starts to slide her hand up his thigh.

“I, uh—” Clint clears his throat—“I thought you wanted to go slow.”

“That was dumb of me to say.” She leans forward to press her mouth to his neck. She parts her lips and licks his skin. 

Is she really doing this? Is she really jumping into bed with the last Avenger? Think, Darcy, she tells herself. Are you prepared to accept the consequences of this?

Clint tips her head up and starts kissing her, and Darcy stops thinking.

“I’m not a slut,” she says against his mouth.

“I know,” he says and keeps kissing her.

She pulls away. “I mean, I’ve only been with two guys and a girl before this year.”

“Darcy, I don’t think you’re a slut,” Clint says.

“I just wanted you to know,” she says. She goes back to kissing him, and it’s sweet and slow. 

She considers protesting more, but she’s afraid that will make him stop. And with his hand sliding up the front of her shirt, with her hand sliding over the front of his jeans, she doesn’t want to stop. 

Their undressing is a slow process, interrupted often by kissing. Even once they’re naked, they just stand together for a moment, bodies and mouths pressed together. 

Darcy pulls out the futon and lies down. Clint kisses her collarbone, strokes the inside of her thigh with his hand. He takes his time with her, kissing and touching her all over, but never touching her where she most needs him to. She doesn’t think he’s trying to torment her. It’s more like being worshiped. 

She’s never liked the term “making love,” but it’s the only term for what follows after Clint enters her. It’s hot, yes, but above all it’s loving. 

When she comes, she holds onto him, shaking and gasping through her orgasm. Clint comes shortly after she does, in near silence, save for the single breath he lets out. He pulls out and lies next to her, his hand finding hers.

And suddenly, Darcy feels a rush of sadness, because that was wonderful and she likes Clint, but—

She turns toward him, feeling like she should apologize.

But she doesn’t have to. “I know,” he says. “It’s okay.”

He stays the night, his body pressed close to hers, and in the morning she kisses him goodbye. She’s not sorry she slept with him. As with all the others, she can’t help but love him in her own way. 

But she’s never stopped looking at Bruce, never stopped wanting to touch him. He’s been at the back of her mind all along, even when she was with the others. 

She goes back to the lab that day and pulls him aside. It’s been long enough since their encounter that he doesn’t look panicked when she says she wants to talk to him alone.

She’s never been good at easing into things, so she just says it. “I want to be with you.”

“Darcy,” Bruce says, looking like he’s winding up for a long explanation of why that’s not going to happen.

“I don’t want to hear that it’s wrong or that it’s not going to happen,” Darcy says. “I’m just letting you know. And I’m not going to just sit around pining. I warn you, I play dirty.”

He doesn’t smile. He just looks tired, as always.

Darcy puts her hand on his cheek. “Why can’t you have this?”

“People get hurt when they’re around me,” he says. He doesn’t pull away.

“You’re dumb,” she says, softly, and then steps forward so that she can clasp her hands behind his neck. 

They stand like that for what feels like a long time. He doesn’t kiss her, doesn’t say anything. 

Darcy unclasps her hands and steps back. “So, think about it,” she says. 

He lets out a breath. “Yeah, okay.”

It’s not a no, not exactly a yes, but it’s progress. They return to the lab. He goes back to his work, and Darcy does hers, smiling the whole time. Every once in a while she’ll catch him looking at her, which only makes her grin more. 

He’s not saying yes. Yet. But for once in her life, Darcy feels like she can be patient.


End file.
